Life-boat.



W. HOPPEB.

LtFE BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED 1ULY3. 1914. l 1,177,625. Patented Apr. 4,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Lilian fop/Jer."

ttomu W. HOPPER.

LIFE BOAT.

APPLICATION F|LD1uLY3.19|4.

PatentedApr. 4,1916

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 atto/anus YToall whom 'it may concern:

.-., sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM HOPPEE, 0E JEFFERSON, IowA.

LIEE-EOAT.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM I-IoPrER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jefferson, in the county of Greene and State of Iowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in Life-Boats, of which the following is a specification. e j This invention relates to lifeboats, the object in view being to produce a boat einbodying a novel construction of cover and folding frame therefor, which may be ,quickly set upY and which may be as quickly collapsed, enablinga-,number of such boats .to be placed one upon the other in compact form upon the deck of a vessel, for example, the boat being especially adapted for use in emergencies.

" With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts,

as herein described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat embodying the present inventiomshowing the cover in its useful position. Fig. 2 isak similar view showing the cover collapsed to enable a numberofboatsrto be placed one upon the other.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through the boat on an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail perspective view of thefastening means between the bows and ridge stay.

The boat designated generally at A may be of any usual or preferred construction, the same being illustrated in the accompanying drawings as of the ordinary flat scow type.

In carrying out the present invention, I employ a number of cover holding bows 1 which are terminally hinged or pivotally connected at their Vlower extremities to the opposite sides of the boat as indicated at 2 thereby enabling all of said bows 1 to be moved from the vertical position indicated in Fig. 1 to the substantially horizontal position shown in Fig. 2.

One of the end bows 1 is connected to the adjacent end of the boat by means of a plurality of flexible stays 8 each of which is connected at its upper end to the top of the adjacent end bow at the point 4c, and connected at its other end at the point 5 to the end deck 6 of the boat. The stav or stays 3 are of such length that when straightened out, they sustain the adjacent end bow 1 in a vertical position and permit said bow Speccation of Letters Patent.

i AApplication ledJuly 3, 1914. SeraljNo. 848,856.

to be swungk downwardly to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2.

All of the bows 1 are connected by a ridge stay 7 which extends centrally and longitudinally ofthe bow and is attached to each and every bow at the center of the top thereof as shown in Fig. 3, the means for connecting the ridge stay 7 to the bows-being illustrated in detail in Fig. 4 in which it .will be seen that at each bow I employ a metal clip 8 having a U-shaped portion 9 to embrace the adjacent bow and the oppositely extending end portions which are secured to the ridge-stay 7 by binding cord or wire as illustrated, the ridge stay 7 being flexible so that it will not interfere with Vthe swinging downward of the bows 1. 4 v

The means for raising and lowering the series of bows 1 consists of an eXtra or additional operating bow -lOwhich like the other bows is terminally hinged or pivoted at its lower extremities at the points 11 to the boat. This operating bow l0 passes through the adjacent end bowl and is connected thereto by flexible stays 12 of justsuiiicient length to allow the bow l0 to reach the adjacent deck 13 of the boat vwhere it is engaged by a hoo-k 14C or its equivalent thereby locking the operating bow in a substantially horizontal position while the stays 12 serve to hold the adjacent end bow in a vertical position. VAll of the bows are thus braced efciently in their vertical or useful positions.

A cover 15 of any suitable flexible water proof material such asoiled canvas extends over the top portions of all the bows 1 and is connected to each of the bows by means of rings 16, each ring being securelv fastened to the cover l5 and being slidable on its respective bow so that the top cover 15 may be gathered toward the center of the tops of the bows whenever desired.

Side curtains 17 are secured at their top edges to the opposite longitudinal edgesV of the cover 15 and said side curtains are made of sufficient width or vertical dimensions to extend below the top edge of the Vboat A where they are provided with snap hooks 18 adapted to engage eyes 19 along the side of the boat as shown in Fig. 1. This has the effect of securely holding the entire cover including the side curtains stretched over the bows 1.

rAt a suitable elevation on the bows 1 areV attached eyes 20 adapted to receive the snap hooks 13 after the latter are detached from the eyes 19, thus enabling the lower .mar-l ginal portions of the curtains to be elevated and sustained in such condition for the purpose of enabling the boat to be propelled by means of oars, 2l designating oar locks along each side of the boat.

Transversely extending seat supports and braces 22 are attached at intervals inpthe boat as shown in Fig. 3 to support the longitudinally extending side seats 23 which are superimposed upon said supports. Each of the supports 22 is provided at its opposite extremities with L-shaped clips or angle plates 24; which are detachably inserted in keepers 25 on the inside of the boat thus enabling any number of seat supports and seats to be placed in the boat. The bottom 26 of the boat is preferably double or two-ply and has fastened thereto rollers or casters 27 to enable the boat to be readily pushed about on the deck of a vessel, for example. When several of the boats are placed one upon the other, theV entire pile of boats may thus be shifted about on the deck of a vessel and brought to the proper place for launching. The boat is further provided at suitable points with davit eyes 28 connected by flexible cables 29 to the sides of the boat, the eyes 28 enabling the boat to be handled by the usual davits.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it will now be seen that "a number of boats constructed in accordance with this invention may be piled one uponthe other by merely placing cross bars or pieces of scantling onthe to of each boat upon which the next superimposed boat will rest. The entire pile of boats may be shifted from place to place and each boat may be lowered to the water by the usual davits. The cover frame may then be adjusted to its useful position by means of the operating bow 10 and the whole fastened to the deck. The cover and side curtains may then beadjusted in the manner above described after which it will serve to protect all of the occupants of the boat. f

What I claim is:-

The combination with a boat, of a longitudinal series of bows terminally hinged at their bottom extremities to the opposite sides of the boat, flexible stays connecting one of the end bows to the boat vto sustain 'said end bow in an upright position` and adapting the same together with the 'other bows to be swung toa horizontal position, a flexible ridge stay having a jointed connection with all ofthe bows of the series, means for raising and loweringthe series of bows, and arflexible cover attached to. said bows by slidable connections.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HOPPER.

Witnesses:

HARRY A. LYON, EDW. RYAN.

Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.'

Washington, D. G. 

